Quinhentos Anos de Quê?
Eram três as caravelas
Que chegaram d'alem mar
E a terra chamou-se América
Por ventura? Por azar?
Não sabia o que fazia, não
D. Cristóvão, capitão
Trazia, em vão, Cristo no nome
E, em nome dele, o canhão
Pois vindo a mando do senhor
E d'outros reis que, juntos
Reinam mais
Bombas, velas não são asas
Brancas da pomba da paz
Eram só três caravelas
E valeram mais que um mar
Quanto aos índios que mataram
Ah! Ninguém pôde contar
Quando esses homem fizeram
O mundo novo e bem maior
Por onde andavam nossos deuses
Com seus andes, seu condor?
Que tal a civilização
Cristã e ocidental
Deploro esta herança na língua
Que me deram eles, afinal
Diz, América que es nossa
Só porque hoje assim se crê
Há motivos para festa?
Quinhentos anos de que?
Five Hundred Years of What?
There were three caravels
That arrived from beyond the sea
And the land was called America
By chance? By misfortune?
He didn't know what he was doing, no
D. Christopher, captain
Brought, in vain, Christ in the name
And in his name, the cannon
For coming at the lord's command
And of other kings who, together
Reign more
Bombs, sails are not the white wings
Of the peace dove
There were only three caravels
And they were worth more than a sea
As for the Indians they killed
Ah! No one could count
When these men made
The new and much larger world
Where were our gods
With their Andes, their condor?
What about the Christian and Western
Civilization
I deplore this legacy in the language
That they gave me, after all
Say, America that is ours
Just because that's how it's believed today
Is there a reason to celebrate?
Five hundred years of what?